Alaska Wildlife Troopers are urging hunters across the state not to illegally waste meat from their kills this season, after online reports of unharvested animals in the Nome area.
Hunting is one of the largest subsistence activities in Northwest Alaska. Fishing, hunting and trapping all require proper licensing, and have many rules and regulations. When it comes to subsistence hunting, one of them is “Field to Freezer” — the process of hunting an animal and harvesting all of the animal. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that under state law, all edible meat must be salvaged from big game animals except brown bears, wolves and wolverines. Any furbearer must be harvested.
Dylan Brooks, a wildlife trooper in Bethel, said one animal is found improperly harvested in his area more than others.
“I would say caribou, and moose,” Brooks said. “I think that is largely because we have more caribou, moose hunters than any other kind of hunter out there.”
Over the last two weeks, several prominent posts in Facebook groups have reported animals that were discarded throughout the Nome and Norton Sound area. Some of the animals appeared untouched in trapping boxes. The posts were flooded with comments and reminders of traditional Alaska Native hunting values.
Brooks said when wildlife troopers find a discarded animal, they share it with the village elders.
“If the animal is still salvageable, if the meat hasn’t spoiled yet, then we try to get it to elders in the nearest community,” he said. “Some places have a charity list and they’ll call the next person on the charity list. Then that person can come out and salvage it.”
Brooks said it’s uncommon to get reports of entire animals being wasted, but more common for only particular cuts of meat to be harvested. He said such waste is offensive to legitimate subsistence users.
“It doesn’t look good to people that are hunters that do things the right way,” he said. “They’re very ethical — it doesn’t look good to them.”
In Alaska, failing to properly harvest an animal carries a minimum penalty of one week in jail and a $2,000 fine. To report a wildlife violation, contact Fish and Game’s Safeguard hotline at 1-800-478-3377.
State hunting laws, regulations and requirements can be found online on the Alaska Wildlife Troopers’ website, with information on federal marine bird regulations available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
